[Blindtlk] IPad EBook to use voice over

[David Andrews]

>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: Joney <talk2owen at gmail.com>
>Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:03:24 -0500
>Subject: IPad EBook to use voice over
>To: viphone at googlegroups.com
>
>Thought some of you would be interested in this considering the run round
>Amazon had.
>
>
>
>Apple's iBooks Store and Reader to Support VoiceOver
>
>12 March, 2010 @ 3:19 pm by Lioncourt
>
>
>
>As Apple began taking pre-orders today for its new iPad device, they
>released a few more details about the product. Most exciting among these for
>VoiceOver
>
>users is the news that iBooks, the application that doubles as a digital
>bookstore and electronic book reader, will support VoiceOver.
>
>
>
>Apple's
>
>iBooks page
>
>describes its accessibility thus:
>
>Block quote start
>
>
>
>Unlike a paper book - or e-books on other devices - you can change iBooks on
>iPad to suit the way you read. Turn iPad to portrait to view a single page.
>
>Or view two pages at once by rotating to landscape. Change the text size.
>Even change the font. Touch and hold any word to look it up in the built-in
>dictionary
>
>or Wikipedia, or to search for it throughout the book and on the web. iBooks
>works with VoiceOver, the screen reader in iPad, so it can read you the
>contents
>
>of any page. Even with all these extras, reading is so natural on iPad, the
>technology seems to disappear.
>
>Block quote end
>
>
>
>Our readers will remember the
>
>controversy last year
>
>when the
>
>Authors' Guild
>
>tried to block text-to-speech on Amazon's Kindle book reader, claiming that
>text-to-speech was equivalent to audio book performances by human narrators.
>
>
>
>The guild will find it much harder to argue that bizarre stance this time,
>as the access is being offered via VoiceOver rather than a generalized
>text-to-speech
>
>option. By taking this approach, Apple will be providing VOiceOver users
>with a streamlined experience, and putting the
>
>Authors' Guild
>
>in a position of specifically having to oppose access for visually impaired
>users to their content. We do not believe the guild will want to try to take
>
>such a hostile stance.
>
>
>
>The iBooks application will also work as a reader for free books in ePub
>format, whether that content was purchased from the iBooks store or not.
>
>
>
>Once again, Apple is putting visually impaired users on equal footing with
>their sighted fellows.
>
>
>
>
>
>Joney
>
>"If God can bring you to it,
>He will lead you through it."
>
>Email: talk2owen at gmail.com
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